Ray Texel And Connery Win WEF’s Absorbine® Myoplast® 1.30m Award

January 20, 2009

Wellington, FL – International Grand Prix rider Ray Texel guided a small but mighty horse named Connery into the winner’s circle of the Absorbine® Myoplast® sponsored 1.30m first timed round during the second week of the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida. Texel and Connery rode away with the coveted Absorbine Myoplast 1.30 award.

Texel was enthusiastic about his ride on Connery, an 8-year-old gelding owned by Janice Aron, who he describes as a little horse with a big jump. "He is such a competitive horse, so my job is easy. I just have to make sure I steer," Texel said. "The circuit is long so we are pacing it out right now. He is a younger horse so I want to keep him slowly moving along as he graduates."

The Absorbine Myoplast award is given to the winner of the first timed round each week during WEF. Canadian Olympic Gold Medalist Eric Lamaze, who is currently the number one ranked show jumper in the world riding Under Contract, and Morgan Kennedy riding Zaboomerang, also won their classes in the Absorbine Myoplast 1.30m division.

Texel’s road to the winner’s circle began at a young age when he dominated the equitation ranks. At the age of 14, he won the 1987 AHSA Pony Equitation Finals and, in 1989, he became one of a select few to win the nation’s two most prestigious equitation national championships, the AHSA Medal Final and the ASPCA Maclay Finals. Texel became one of the youngest riders, second only to the legendary George Morris, to ever win both national junior championships. As a result of his success, Texel was named the AHSA’s Junior Equestrian of the Year for 1990.

Texel has not only competed internationally in Grand Prix’s, but also shared his equestrian knowledge when he acted as Chair of the Selection Committee for the 2004 Olympic Show Jumping Team. Texel’s expertise over the years has made him a sought-after coach and trainer.

Texel’s win in the 1.30m division awarded him the highly sought-after tote full of Absorbine products, including Absorbine Myoplast, an amino acid supplement formulated to support muscle performance in horses. European champions have been using Myoplast, the number-one-selling muscle supplement in Germany and only available in Europe through veterinarians, for many years. Absorbine Myoplast is now sold in the United States and is available at local tack shops, in catalogs and feed stores.